


Up Crush Creek Without an EMF Detector

by thewightknight



Category: Dredd (2012), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Ghosthunters - Freeform, Haunted Houses, Kylux Big Bang 2019, M/M, Mutual Pining, Setup, ghost debunking, kylux adjacent, more than one bedroom, not really that spooky, scary fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-14 17:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20604224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/pseuds/thewightknight
Summary: Armitage doesn’t believe in ghosts, and he certainly doesn’t believe Rae Sloane’s B&B is haunted. Techie isn’t so sure. So when his brother asks Techie to spend a weekend there, running tests and monitoring their ghost hunting equipment, Techie almost says no. But when he finds out Kylo’s friend Matt has agreed, he changes his mind. A weekend alone with Matt is the answer to so many dreams, ghosts or no ghosts. A weekend in a maybe haunted house is a small price to pay. (Or so he thinks ….)





	Up Crush Creek Without an EMF Detector

**Author's Note:**

  * For [katherine1753](https://archiveofourown.org/users/katherine1753/gifts).

> Written for the mini bang portion of the Kylux Big Bang 2019, although I went over the 10K max word count this year. That's a first for me, so hooray? Art by the incredible [katherine1753](https://katherine1753.tumblr.com/).

** Interview with popular paranormal debunker Armitage Hux **

_Ethereal in appearance, under the right circumstances Armitage Hux could possibly be mistaken for one of the spirits whose existence he works to disprove. We met with him in his restored Victorian house, where he resides with his partner in debunking, Kylo Ren. Mr. Ren was unable to meet with us at this time but we’re hoping to catch the elusive other half of **The Final Word** at a later date._

** _“I understand your boyfriend ….”_ **

_Armitage grimaces. “Partner, please. Boyfriend sounds so juvenile.”_

** _“All right, your partner Kylo Ren believes in ghosts?”_ **

_“He is under that unfortunate assumption, yes.”_

** _“Why is that?”_ **

_“He believes the spirit of his grandfather used to visit him as his child.”_

** _“And you haven’t been able to convince him otherwise?”_ **

_“He is remarkably stubborn about it.”_

** _“But you have had some success in other areas?”_ **

_“It is true that I have been able to disprove rumors of hauntings on more than one occasion.”_

** _“Some people have been calling you a modern Harry Houdini in that regard.” Hux, as he prefers to be called, looks pleased at this, even as he denies it. _ **

_“No, I wouldn’t go that far.”_

** _“I understand you take a scientific approach to your experiments?”_ **

_“Is there any other way to conduct experiments?” Hux asks, his tone disdainful._

** _“And is it true you began your career in investigating paranormal phenomenon because you grew up in a house reputed to be haunted?”_ **

_“Nonsense.”_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The X-files theme sounded from Techie’s phone. It bugged Hux to no end that he’d made it his brother’s ringtone, which is why he kept it.

“Heya, Armie. What’s up?”

“Techie.” Hux sounded frazzled, but that was normal. “You know how Kylo booked that getaway weekend for us?”

“Yeah, and good on him. You two deserve a break. Do you need me to sit Millicent?”

“No, Phas is house sitting for us. I need you to do something else for me.”

That was strange. “Okay?” Techie said, unsure of where this was going.

“Well, here’s the thing. I forgot I’d finally promised Rae to come and do a piece on her inn.”

Techie nearly dropped his phone in shock, fumbling with it as he juggled his coffee mug to keep from dropping that instead.

“It’s the down season and they’re taking their annual vacation next month. I agreed months ago but I didn’t put it on the calendar, and Kylo booked us for that trip at the same time. This is the only weekend the inn is available and if I back out again, Rae will disinherit me, and possibly kill me on top of it. I was wondering if you’d be willing to take this job on for me? Kylo booked us for that weekend because it’s the down season, but that’s why the inn is closed too. They have to stay open the rest of the year - there’s always last-minute bookings and they need those to stay afloat.”

“Me?” Techie gulped. “You want me to stay alone in Rae’s house? With the poltergeist?”

“For the last time, there is no poltergeist. Their house is not haunted and you know it. It’s just an old building with creaky floorboards and a short in the wiring someplace. Rae and Tham are working it to bring in the tourists, the same way they worked it to entertain us when we were kids.”

Techie still hesitated. This was a long-standing argument. Rae had maintained that her home, which they’d converted into an inn when he and Hux were teenagers, had a poltergeist. Hux had scoffed at the idea from the start. They’d almost grown up in that house, spending more time with Rae and her wife Tham than did with their father and step-mother. Hux had always denied there was anything to the house besides old wiring and creaky wood. Techie had other ideas about the place.

“Matt’s already agreed to test the place but I don’t trust him with the more delicate equipment,” Hux continued. “He always breaks something.”

“All right. I’ll do it.” With that bait dangling before him, Techie couldn’t say no, as much as he wanted to. He’d had a crush on Kylo’s friend Matt since the day they’d met and would go on about him for hours if Hux let him. With the two of them alone in a Victorian mansion for a whole weekend, haunted or no, he might finally get up the nerve to say something. Maybe.

“That’s great. Do you think you could come over tomorrow night? We can talk about it over dinner at the inn. Matt’s coming too.”

Techie gulped, but agreed. He’d agree to almost anything to spend time with Matt.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Ocean Bluff Inn stood in splendor on half an acre at the top of a hill overlooking the water. It was an inlet, not the ocean itself, but no one had ever objected to the name. Rae Sloane had inherited the mansion from her grandmother and she and Tham had lived there as long as Techie could remember.

With Brendol always away on business trips and Maratelle caught up in her charity work, the two boys had often been left at loose ends. Once Hux was deemed old enough by some mysterious standard of Brendol’s, the two of them were allowed to bicycle up to Rae’s. She and Brendol had a history of some sort. Neither Hux nor Techie had ever cared enough to find out how they knew each other. They only knew that while their father didn’t particularly like Rae, he did respect her, and had no objection to the boys visiting her.

The two of them helped with the yardwork and whatever random chores needed doing around the house. In exchange they received cookies and hugs, two commodities in short supply in the Hux household. They were also allowed to watch cartoons, which were NOT ALLOWED, according to Brendol. Rae pinkie swore with them not to tell. It was now twenty-five years later, and they still visited Rae and Tham more often than their own parents, despite the fact that Brendol and Maratelle lived less than a mile away from the inn. 

It was only a few days after Christmas but they’d already taken down all the decorations. Aside from a new paint job, the inn looked the same as always. Even in the middle of winter the garden was still lush, full of evergreens and perennials that thrived in the temperate climate of the Pacific Northwest. The plants were taller than he remembered from his childhood, and the gazebo seemed smaller in comparison, but when he sat on the bench everything felt right.

“William! What are you doing out there? It’s cold out! Come in and have some tea!” Tham called and he jumped.

“I’m early.” It was cold, for the area. Temperatures were hovering in the mid-forties and the humidity burrowed into your bones. He hadn’t realized he’d gotten so chilled until Tham mentioned it. “I was waiting for Armie,” he offered as an excuse.

“None of that now. Come!” she repeated. You didn’t ever argue with Tham. She stood a whopping four foot eight inches but she radiated more authority than any military general. Even Kylo jumped when she barked an order at him.

It was silly to be nervous about entering the house now, with both Rae and Tham there already. He’d be spending the weekend there next month by himself. Well, spending the weekend with himself and with Matt, so not really alone. That thought sent a different kind of chill through him. Squaring his shoulders and refusing to acknowledge the little flutter in his stomach or the goosebumps on his skin, he pushed himself up off the bench and crossed the yard to the front porch.

He hadn’t noticed anything odd about the house when he was little, but when he hit his teens, things started to happen. It was never anything big. His wallet or his keys wouldn’t be where he left them. His book would fall off his nightstand while he slept, or move around the library overnight. The lights in the halls and on the stairs flickered at night, and the chandelier chimed and turned on by itself. Armie had always shrugged it off but when he’d mentioned it to Rae and Tham they both smiled and shook their heads.

“It’s the poltergeist, dearest. Don’t worry about it,” Rae had. Techie hadn’t been reassured.

“That’s why I burn the incense, _anh ơi_, and put out the sticky rice,” Tham told him.

“And that’s why we have a raccoon problem,” Rae said, kissing Tham on the top of her head.

Despite all of their reassurances, he’d opted for outdoor chores and reading in the gazebo as much as possible ever since.

The bell above the door began to ring a fraction of a second before Tham opened the screen, he was sure it had. He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. Tham took his hand and dragged him down the hall. “Come, come. We’re having _banh bot loc_.”

Those were his favorite.

Hux arrived a few minutes later and found Techie and Tham in the process of steaming the dumplings.

“Armitage!” Tham treated him to a hug. She and Rae were the only ones that could get away with calling him by his first name. “You’re just in time to set the table!”

The creaking of wood that heralded Rae’s arrival from their basement apartment disappeared beneath the rumble of engines. Techie rushed to the window and watched as Kylo and Matt backed their motorcycles into the curb.

When Kylo took his helmet off his hair always managed to fall into perfect waves with a shake of his head. Matt’s helmet, however, always knocked his glasses askew and his blond hair stuck out every which way, even after he ran his fingers through it. It always made Techie think about running his own fingers through Matt’s hair.

“Stop ogling those boys and come help set the table, William,” Tham scolded. “Rae, would you get the glasses down, please?”

Techie scorched a finger twice in the steam as they cooked the rolls, watching Matt while trying not to be obvious about it. After the second time he was relegated to a stool with an ice pack.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Halfway through dinner the old radio in the dining room clicked on. They were treated to the last few seconds of the DJ’s patter before music started playing.

_ Chances are 'cause I wear a silly grin _

_ The moment you come into view _

_ Chances are you think that I'm in love with you _

Techie had at that very moment been staring at Matt with a silly grin on his face as Matt wrestled with his chopsticks, trying not to drop his dumpling into the little dish of chili sauce. He froze, chopsticks clattering in his fingers as he had to fumble not to drop his own roll.

“You still haven’t gotten that plug looked at, have you?” Hux asked. “This place is going to catch fire one day, you know that, don’t you?”

“Armitage, darling, we all know it’s not a bad plug,” Rae replied.

“Yes, _Armitage_, everyone but you knows it’s not a bad plug,” Kylo chimed in, and from his wince Hux had kicked his ankle under the table. Whether it was for agreeing with Rae or for calling him by his first name, Techie wasn’t sure. Probably both, he decided, as Rae forged on ahead.

“But now that we’ve opened up the subject again, thank you for finally agreeing to do an article for us.”

“As long as you agree not to skewer me when my article comes out,” Hux groused, scowling at her.

“I have no doubt that your article will be to our liking, dear,” Rae said. She reached across the table and laid her hand on top of his, still smiling at him as she squeezed. Hux looked a bit sour when she said this. Techie didn’t have time to wonder why, as Matt’s dumpling finally escaped his chopsticks and landed in the chili sauce with a loud splat.

After dinner Tham took Matt and Techie through the house. Techie made notes as she pointed out the areas where they’d noticed the most recent activity.

“You know about the radio already, and the chandelier,” she said as she led them up the stairs. “They like to play in the shower in the Flower Room’s en suite bathroom.” Each of the guest rooms had a name. The Flower Room had ornate wallpaper with a repeating pattern of large bouquets. It made Techie’s nose itch in sympathy.

“They open the linen door closet all the time.” The door halfway down the hall was open as she pointed. Techie could see neatly folded towels and washcloths on the shelves, with little bags of cedar chips between them. She closed it as they passed.

“The only other place on this floor they seem to like is the window at the end of the hallway. They like the drapes closed. We like them open in the mornings. The view is spectacular.” She pulled the drapes back, hooking them into the ornate holdbacks on either side of the frame. Sunset had been hours ago, but you could see the lights from the main strip along the waterfront reflected in the water, and the moon had just risen over the mountains.

A creak from behind them raised the little hairs on the back of Techie’s neck. When he turned, he saw the linen closet door swing open again.

“See?” Rae said.

He had several pages of notes when Tham called them down to dessert.

“Strawberry shortcake!” Matt exclaimed, eyes wide. Food in the Sloane/Nguyen household was always a mishmash of traditional American and Vietnamese cooking. Instead of whipped cream, Tham had used coconut cream, and there was some spice in the cake Techie couldn’t place. Matt didn’t seem to mind, if his two helpings were any indication.

“We’ll have food in the fridge for you boys, so don’t worry about meals while you’re here!” was Tham’s parting comment.

As they stood awkwardly on the porch, Techie cast about for something to say in farewell.

“Um, if you don’t mind, maybe we could order a pizza for dinner Saturday night?” Matt asked, shoving his glasses up his nose with his finger, glancing at Techie, then looking away.

“I wouldn’t mind something that doesn’t involve chopsticks,” Techie said. Matt smiled at him, an uncertain wobble of the lips that made Techie’s stomach flutter. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you in a couple of weeks?”

“Couple of weeks, yeah.”

“Come on, Techie! I need to feed Millicent!” Hux called from the car.

“Goodbye!” Matt called out as Techie got into the car and Techie waved at him. Techie sighed after the car door had closed.

“The two of you are absolutely hopeless,” Hux said as he started the engine.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Techie knew how to run all the equipment. Hux still ran him through everything twice and handed him a checklist before leaving.

“I’ve calibrated everything so you shouldn’t have any issues, but if you need to troubleshoot ….” he began.

“I will not call you on your vacation, Hux.” Techie did his best to glare at his brother. He knew it was a feeble glare, but he tried his best anyways.

Hux looked like he was about to argue, but ended up throwing his hands in the air. “Fine. You’ll be fine. Just don’t whine at me for weeks after if you don’t take advantage of this weekend to finally make a move on your monumental crush.”

“Hux!” Techie exclaimed, because Kylo and Matt had pulled up in the van, both of them with the windows down. It didn’t look like they had overheard, thank goodness.

There was a bit of a shuffle, transferring Kylo’s bags to Hux’s car and Techie’s into the van. Then he was sitting in the passenger seat, trying to buckle himself in while not obviously staring at Matt’s biceps. He and Kylo had met at the gym when they were in high school and had been workout buddies ever since. Matt wore an old concert tee, so faded that you couldn't make out the logo anymore. He'd cut out both the neck and sleeves. Matt’s biceps looked bigger around than Techie’s thighs and they flexed and rippled as Matt put the van in reverse and backed out of the driveway.

“This is going to be fun, isn’t it?” Matt asked as Hux and Kylo waved at them.

Techie raised his hand in return as they rounded the corner. “Yeah,” he said. “Fun.”

Rae and Tham had left early that morning, so they arrived to an empty house. Or, at least, it should have been empty. As they pulled up, Techie saw the curtains on one of the upper floors move.

“Did you see that?” he asked Matt.

“See what?” Matt grunted. Techie was torn between watching him unload the equipment and watching the window. “Hey, can you grab the blue tub?” Matt asked, and that decided the matter for them.

Since it was poltergeist activity they were investigating, Hux hadn’t sent the EVPs. That meant one less tub to transfer into the house. Even with the winter cold, he was sweating by the time they’d emptied the van. Matt’s glasses had gone crooked again and his hair was even messier than usual.

“Any ideas on where to set things up?” Matt asked.

“Er, well, I think one camera in the upstairs hall, maybe? To watch the linen closet. We can put another in the dining room. I’m not sure for the third one.” That was a lie. The third one should go in the library, in his opinion, but he wanted to give some choices too.

“I was thinking the library. You talked about books moving around, right?”

He’d remembered Techie mentioning that! “Right. Perfect!” Matt grinned at him and Techie smiled back. They were almost the same height, although Matt would make two of him. That put his eyes at a level with Matt’s warm brown ones. The eyes that he’d now been staring into for too long – awkward. Clearing his throat, he bent down to grab one of the bins. “We don’t have enough motion sensors to put in every room, but we can skip some of the guest rooms. Why don’t I start putting these out while you get the cameras going?”

“Sounds good. I was thinking of sleeping in the Garret Suite, if that’s okay with you? If you want that room, though, I can take another,” Matt said.

Techie hadn’t thought about sleeping arrangements for the weekend. “Um, no, that’s okay. I thought I’d take the Tower Room.” The first floor was all common rooms, with four guest rooms each on the second and third floors. Both the garret and tower rooms were on the third floor. He’d sleep better, knowing Matt was close. Relatively close, at least – the two rooms were on opposite sides of the house, but there wouldn’t be a staircase between them. The fluttering drapes he’d noticed had been in one of the second-floor rooms. They’d monitor that room, he decided.

The motion sensors were all Bluetooth enabled and Hux had a program written so they’d set off alerts if something tripped them. The cameras were motion sensitive. They linked to EMF detectors, triggered to start recording when the detectors spiked. The detectors ran at all times, sending a continuous flow of data that Hux could later track and chart. They each had a portable EMF detector too, fitted with carrying straps so they could keep their hands free, if needed. Every device had a battery backup in case the power went out. Once they had each piece in place, he booted up the laptop from the kit and ran the script he and Hux had written to connect them all. A list scrolled across the screen, with a line for every piece of equipment.

“Are we green?” Matt asked. Green meant connected, grey needed troubleshooting, and red indicated activity. Each piece had its own unique identifier, and there was a field where they could note individual locations during their run.

Two pieces showed grey. “Can you check the Flower Room?” That’s where the drapes had fluttered. “I’m not connected to the motion sensor there. And the library EMF, too.”

Once he’d verified everything was in order, Techie also dug a Maglite for each of them from one of the bins. The weight of them was always a comfort, on top of the knowledge that they wouldn’t be left in the dark no matter what. He turned one on, testing the battery, relaxing the tiniest bit at the bright glow of the bulb.

Matt bounded into the room, startling him. “Hey, Techie? Where’d the remote go for the cameras?”

“I left it on the table in the front hall.”

“Are you sure?”

After a few minutes of searching they found it under one of the tables in the parlor. When Matt fished it out, he scowled. “Are we sure no one else is here?”

“We’ve been over the whole house already.” Well, they hadn’t gone into the basement, but it was locked up. Tham and Rae had never mentioned anything about disturbances in their personal part of the house, and Matt and Techie wouldn’t have intruded anyways. The couple deserved their privacy.

They’d had to turn on the lights while they searched for the remote. Even though he’d lived here all his life, sunset at four-thirty in the afternoon still caught him off guard. The dark seemed to press in on the house and Techie shivered.

“Are you cold?” Matt asked. “I brought a couple of extra sweaters.”

“No, I’m fine. How about starting dinner? I figured we’d do pizza tomorrow night, if that’s okay?”

There were several leftover containers in the fridge marked with little post-it notes and their names.

“Macaroni and cheese or pork buns?” Techie asked.

“What’s in the macaroni besides cheese?”

Opening the lid, Techie peered at the contents. “Looks like tofu, maybe?” He took a sniff. “Definitely basil.”

“Pork buns, then.”

Tofu was on Matt’s ‘not food’ list, Techie knew, along with pretty much every vegetable known to man. They’d be having an all meat special tomorrow. At least breakfast would be easy. “Pancakes and bacon tomorrow morning?”

“You’re on!”

After verifying they had fixings for sandwiches tomorrow for lunch, Techie set about steaming the buns. He didn’t burn any fingers this time.

As they were cleaning up, the laptop beeped, and then beeped again. They’d brought it into the kitchen with them but hadn’t expected any disturbances. Techie and Matt stared at each other, soap dripping from Techie’s hands and Matt frozen in mid-wipe.

“That’s the motion detectors,” Matt said.

That wasn’t an indication of paranormal activity – every place Hux and Kylo had ever visited set them off during their visits. They were set to a hair trigger. It was fine, really it was. It didn’t mean anything. Techie had almost calmed himself down, and then the laptop emitted a series of sharp chirps.

“That’s the EMFs.” Techie gulped.

“We should go check it out.” Matt didn’t move, though.

“At least see which ones it is?” Techie suggested, nodding towards the laptop. They could do that from the kitchen. That unfroze Matt.

“Yeah. Check the laptop. Sure.” He gave the plate another pass with his towel and placed it in the drying rack. Maybe it was his imagination, but Techie thought Matt’s fingers trembled a little bit. The thought that Matt might be as scared at the possibility of ghosts as he was reassured Techie somehow.

The equipment laptop was a beast. It had the biggest battery Hux could find, and there was a power bank in the kit as well. Lack of power would never stop Hux’s debunking efforts. If Techie actually put it in his lap, his legs would lose circulation in a few minutes.

The blog’s logo floated against a background of ectoplasmic green fog. A jog of the mouse took it out of screensaver mode. Techie tried to ignore the press of Matt’s shoulder against his as they both stared at the screen.

“Shit,” Matt said. “Look at all that red.”

It wasn’t that much red, really, but any red on the EMFs was too much red, as far as Techie was concerned, and Matt seemed to agree.

“We’ve got red in the front hall, the landing between the first and second floors, and the Flower Room bathroom.”

As he uttered those words the house groaned. It was a noise Techie had heard before, but the timing of this occurrence was the absolute worst.

“Hux says it’s the house settling on the foundation,” he said, proud of how his voice didn’t waver. The hairs on Matt’s arm were standing straight up, he saw. Instead of giving in the urge to smooth them down, he focused on the laptop. “Whatever it was, it’s settled now. There’s no new activity registering.” As soon as the words left his mouth the laptop beeped again, and then started to chirp in a regular rhythm.

Techie scrolled through the list until he found the culprit. “That’s the Flower Room bathroom that keeps going off.”

“Do you think we should go check it out?”

Matt didn’t sound enthusiastic about the idea, but Techie knew Hux would if he was here. “We should. Just to make sure.” Make sure of what, he wasn’t sure.

They started with the front hall.

“I don’t see anything,” Matt said.

Everything looked in place, as far as they could tell, so they moved on. Matt insisted on going up the stairs first. He clutched his Maglite in one hand like a club. Techie he wanted nothing more than to plaster himself to Matt’s back so he could hide if anything popped up. He made himself leave three steps between them, though, in case one of them jumped. That was a recipe for a tumble. It did make for a pleasant view, which was a bonus.

The landing proved as uninteresting as the front hall, so they moved up to the second floor. They could hear still faint beeps and chirps from the laptop as they continued to climb. The bedroom doors were shut, as they’d all been earlier that evening. Matt took the knob for the door to the Flower Room, but hesitated on opening it.

“On three?” Techie suggested, and Matt nodded. “Okay. One … two … … three!”

Matt threw the door open and it banged against the wall. Techie cringed. If he’d scuffed the wallpaper, Rae would be pissed. Peering into the room over Matt’s shoulder, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Do you see anything?” he asked.

“Shh!” Matt said, holding a hand up. “Do you hear that?” he whispered.

Concentrating, Techie listened.

_drip … drip … drip …_

“It sounds like water?”

“Tham said _they_ liked to play in this bathroom.” Matt took a cautious step into the room, and then another. Techie followed, resisting the urge to clutch Matt’s shirt.

When they got to the bathroom door, Techie whispered, “Don’t slam the door this time, please?”

Nodding, Matt inched the door open this time. As they watched, a drop of water beaded up on the faucet, and then fell with a splat. … _drip … drip … drip …_

“It wasn’t doing that earlier, right?” Matt asked.

“No, I checked.”

Matt reached in, tentative, like he thought the faucet might try to bite him. He turned the handle until the drip stopped. “There,” he said. They stood there, waiting, but no more drips emerged. “Okay, I need a beer,” Matt said at last.

Techie didn’t like beer, but there were a couple of hard ciders stashed in the back of the refrigerator. He clinked bottles with Matt after they’d popped the caps. As he took his first swallow the laptop sounded off again. As one, they turned back to the laptop.

“It’s the Flower Room one again,” Techie confirmed.

“Should we go turn the water off again?” Matt asked.

“How about I do this?” Right clicking on the field for that EMF, he checked ‘silence’. “It’ll keep recording,, but it won’t keep beeping.”

That was the end of the excitement for the evening. After another twenty minutes or so of staring at the laptop, Matt suggested a movie. There normally wasn’t a DVD player or a television in the parlor, but either Rae or Tham had pulled one up from the basement for them. They’d left a stack of DVDs next to the set. The new _Ghostbusters_ was on top of the stack.

“Oh, yeah! I love Holtzman,” Matt said, and popped it in before Techie could protest. A movie about ghosts would not have been Techie’s first choice while staying in a possibly haunted house. It wouldn't have been his fifth choice, or his twentieth, for that matter. They started out on opposite sides of the sofa,, but when Techie nearly fell off at the first jump scare, Matt held an arm out. “C’mere,” he said.

Hardly believing it, Techie inched over, sighing when Matt’s arm draped across his shoulders.

His dreams that night were a weird mixture of ectoplasmic explosions and Matt cuddles.

([x](https://katherine1753.tumblr.com/post/187670416964/anddddd-mini-bang-art-for-thewightknight-part-2))

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Matt ate a lot of pancakes. Techie had thought a double batch of batter was excessive but Matt consumed each set as they came off the griddle. He also inhaled most of the pound of bacon they’d fried up. Techie only had two pancakes and three strips of bacon and he left a couple of bites on his plate.

When he found out that Matt had woken up early, gone for a jog, and then went to the grocery to buy the bacon, all while he still slept, Techie fought through a moment of panic. He’d been all alone in the house. Nothing happened, he scolded himself. It was fine. The house wasn’t haunted – Armitage said so. There was no reason to worry.

Techie offered to do the dishes, since Matt had cooked. His reward was watching through the kitchen window over the sink as Matt went through a series of push-ups and lunges and several other athletic maneuvers for which he had no name, clad in a pair of thin sweats and one of his sleeveless tees. There was a dusting of frost on the grass and a bite to the air, but Matt didn’t seem to notice. By the time he’d finished he’d worked up a sweat, and Techie could see steam rising off his skin. It gave him a ghostly air – appropriate for their setting, Techie supposed.

He knew Matt couldn’t see him through the window but he still looked away when Matt jogged back towards the house. He didn’t want to get caught staring like a creeper. His resolution not to sneak another glance or four was tested as Matt popped into the kitchen. He stood in the doorway stretching while Techie finished up, one arm bent at the elbow and held it with the other arm behind his neck. His shirt rode up and Techie caught a glimpse of a dusting of blond hair above the top of his sweatpants, and a hint of a magnificent set of abs. He ducked his head, scrubbing at an imaginary buildup on the fry pan.

“I’m going to go shower. Thought I’d use the Flower Room, and I can check if the water is still going, too,” Matt said.

“Um, sure, that’s a good idea,” Techie mumbled into the sink. Once he heard Matt’s footsteps on the stairs, he let out a sigh. Hux was right. He was absolutely hopeless.

Placing the last plate in the drying rack, Techie reached for his coffee. His questing fingers found empty countertop. He looked down and frowned. His mug had been right next to him, he’d swear to it, but now it sat halfway down the counter. Reaching across, he raised it to his lips and grimaced. The liquid had gone ice cold. Dumping it out in the sink, he poured himself a new mug from the pot.

He’d only taken a few sips when the laptop went off again. Choking on his swallow, he rushed to check the sensors, then laughed at himself. It was only Matt. _In the Flower Room with the shower, _he thought, giggling to himself at the Clue reference.

While he had the laptop open, he ran through the rest of the notifications. He also logged their activities to make sure they were taken into account when Hux ran his reports. ‘Snuggled on the sofa while watching movies’ did not make it into the database.

The cameras were the only pieces of equipment that didn’t feed directly in. If he wanted to see what they’d recorded he’d have to manually connect them with a USB cord. There were a few flutters from the motion detectors they’d placed in tandem with the cameras, but nothing notable enough that he felt they should check the recordings.

He’d almost finished when he heard a shout and a thump from upstairs. “Matt?” he called, but didn’t get an answer. He bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time, picturing one horrible possibility after another. When he reached the second floor he heard swearing and another thump. “Matt?” he tried again.

“I’m fine. The damned hot water quit, is all.” Matt opened the door and Techie gulped. The ends of the towel that Matt had wrapped around his waist barely met and a healthy expanse of thigh peeked through the slit. He tore his gaze upwards and hid the smile he felt blooming behind his hand. Matt’s wet hair was plastered to his scalp, making his ears look even bigger than normal. Mistaking his reaction, Matt hurried to reassure him. “Really, I’m fine. Just startled. I popped the shower door out of its tracks, but I’ve got it back in now. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

Matt didn’t have his glasses on and he squinted as he tried to focus on Techie’s face and his adorableness factor shot up by another order of magnitude. “Okay,” Techie stammered. “I’m going to go finish checking the readings.” He beat a hasty retreat before Matt could respond, pounding back down the stairs. It wasn’t the pace at which he took them that had his heart pounding in his chest.

Trying to distract himself, he pulled up the Hamilton soundtrack on his phone and started it playing. Random shuffle pulled up _Helpless_ as the first song. How appropriate, he thought, humming along as he made the rounds of the first floor, checking to make sure everything was still in place. He found two books on the floor in the library and re-shelved them. One of the vases of decorative flowers was dangerously close to the edge of the little table it sat on and he repositioned it in the center. The lights on each piece of their equipment glowed green.

He could hear faint noises from the second floor and had to keep reminding himself it was only Matt. It finally dawned on him that he should do his morning routine as well. Remembering Matt’s experience with the hot water, he didn’t dawdle in the shower. A knock at the door caught him by surprise, the door swinging open while he was only half dressed, even though he’d have sworn he’d closed it all the way. He yanked his tee over his head, not wanting Matt to see his concave chest and soft belly. Brushing his hair out of his eyes, he caught Matt averting his eyes, a hint of pink on his cheeks.

“Sorry! I was going to ask if you wanted to walk down to the beach. We don’t have to stay here all day. All that electronic stuff doesn’t need us to babysit it every minute.”

“Yeah, that’d be good,” he said, even though he hadn’t planned on spending much time outside when he’d packed.

Matt frowned when he pulled on his sweater and slid his hoodie on top of it. “You won’t be warm enough in that. Let me grab one of my sweaters.” He didn’t wait for a response, trotting off down the hall to his room. He re-emerged with a thick wool sweater. “It’s a boring color, but it’ll do the trick.”

Techie did favor bright clothing, he knew. Today he was wearing his favorite yellow tee under a hot pink sweater and a safety orange hoodie. “It looks warm,” he said, taking it from Matt’s hands. Their fingers brushed and his heart did that little thing, like it was trying to fly inside around his chest. The wool was scratchy and smelled faintly of Matt’s cologne.

Once he’d pulled it on, Matt nodded in satisfaction. “That should do. Come on!”

As they walked down the hill towards the historic section of town that ran along the water, Techie imagined they were holding hands. He thought Matt might be stealing glances at him as they walked, but never caught him at it when he stole his own sidelong looks. The wind ruffled Matt’s hair even more than usual and stole his soft sighs away as his fingers itched to smooth it down.

“Grey skies, grey water,” Matt said when they reached the shore.

“I like the clouds. They’re a giant blanket for the sky. If it was sunny, it’d be colder.”

“You’re not cold, are you? You can have my coat,” Matt said, starting to unzip his windbreaker.

“No, I’m fine. Really,” he said when Matt started to take his coat off. He was cold, even with the sweater, but Matt was only wearing a thin shirt under his coat. Thinking of him without any other layers made Techie feel even colder.

“If you’re sure,” Matt said, hesitating until Techie nodded before zipping his coat back up.

“Just as long as we don’t go out for ice cream,” Techie joked. The ice cream shop closed during the down season and the owners went off to in Arizona. He thought about moving someplace warmer from time to time, but he hated being worse hot than he hated being cold and he burned here even with the minimal UV. And if he moved, he’d leave behind everyone he knew.

Seagulls circled overhead, their mournful cries a counterpart to the rolling waves. He’d miss this too.

“I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else,” Matt said, an echo to his thoughts.

If it had been summertime, he could have stayed out there all day. In January it took less than an hour for the damp cold to penetrate his bones. He kept his teeth from chattering by force of will as they headed back up to the inn. Once they’d gotten back, he suggested Matt check the readings while he made a pot of tea.

Tham had a huge selection of teas. He hesitated before choosing, torn between the lotus tea and the artichoke, eventually settling on lotus. Rae’s influence showed here, in the electric kettle. In less than half the time it would have taken to heat water on the stove he had his hands wrapped around a hot, fragrant mug. Matt accepted a cup, to his surprise, wrinkling his nose at the smell but taking small sips between blowing over the surface of the liquid.

“Coffee is better,” he said, but still matched Techie cup for cup until the pot was empty.

The laptop had chirped several times while they drank but it was the motion sensor alerts, so they both ignored it. It wasn’t until he’d washed the cups and the teapot that Techie noticed the dining room lights were on.

“Matt, did you …?” he started to ask, when the radio turned on again, set to the oldies station, tuning in during another old love song.

_Only you can make this change in me …_

At the same time, the chirp of one of the EMF alerts sounded. They both froze for a minute before dashing over to the laptop.

“That’s the dining room one,” Techie confirmed. This time he couldn’t keep the quaver out of his voice.

_When you hold my hand I understand the magic that you …._

The music cut off as suddenly as it had begun and as the laptop fell silent again they could hear the chime of the chandelier crystals. They both stood frozen in place, waiting, but no further alerts came.

“Ookaaaaay.” Matt drew out the syllables.

“Armie says it’s the wiring.” The usual excuse fell flat.

They ate lunch out in the gazebo, sandwiches and a thermos of coffee, despite the chill drizzle that had begun to fall. Techie had dug out a couple of the old blankets Rae had saved for them, from when they all used to have picnics out together on the lawn. He wrapped one of them around him like a shawl and Matt followed suit. Matt seemed as reluctant as he to go back inside, but he could only take the cold for so long.

“Another movie?” Matt suggested, and he agreed.

“Something funny this time.” In the stack of DVDs he found several Mel Brooks movies, and pulled one of them out. “This one.”

“_To Be or Not to Be_?” Matt asked.

“It’s my favorite! You’ve never seen it?”

The antics of the Bronski theater troop drew laugh after laugh out of Matt. They started out with several feet separating them on the sofa but before the movie was half over Techie found himself tucked up against Matt again, Matt’s arm warm and heavy across his shoulders and a blanket draped over them both. Techie caught him wiping at his eyes during Lupinsky’s Shylock soliloquy. At one point, Matt started twisting a strand of Techie’s hair around his finger, but stopped when he seemed to realize what he was doing. He started to draw away and Techie pulled at the blanket to keep him close.

The movie ended too soon. Techie didn’t want to move. For the first time that day he was warm enough. But as the credits rolled Matt’s stomach rumbled, loud enough Techie heard over the music. He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him and he felt Matt shrug.

“What can I say?” Matt said, and Techie heard the laughter in his voice too.

“Pizza time?” Techie asked.

“Pizza time,” Matt confirmed.

Matt ordered a family sized pie. Hux would probably have had sharp words with them, using the blog laptop to place the order, but he wasn’t there. Techie started another pot of tea while they waited, watching the delivery timer countdown. They both ignored the tracking program. He’d check for more alerts once they’d eaten, Techie told himself.

Even though the timer let them know when the driver arrived, they still both jumped when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Matt offered.

At the moment Matt opened the door the power flickered – once, and then twice more in quick succession. At the same time, the house let out another of its hair-raising groans. He heard Matt call out something, then a pause before the door shut.

“She ran off without her tip,” Matt told him when he returned to the kitchen.

_I don’t blame her,_ Techie thought.

He ate two slices, leaving the crusts. Matt demolished most of the rest of the pizza in the time it took Techie to eat his two. Paper plates were a pizza tradition so there wasn’t anything in the way of cleanup except taking the box out to the garbage and putting the last slice away in a Ziplock bag in the fridge. That left them with another evening ahead of them and nothing to distract them from whatever might happen in the house in the hours before bedtime.

Techie was about to suggest another movie when the power flickered again, and then went out.

“Shit,” Matt said.

“Don’t move,” Techie told him. When it seemed like the power wasn’t going to come back on, he continued. “Stay there. I’ll get the Maglites.” His phone gave off enough of a glow to light his way to where he’d left the flashlights in the front hall. The beam of light cut through the darkness, making the rest of the house around him seem even darker.

“Hey, Techie,” Matt called out from the kitchen. “The equipment is all supposed to have batteries, right?”

“Yeah. Green light means power, flashing light means battery power. Why?”

“Well, I can’t see green on any of detectors from here.”

“Shit.” The sensor in the front hall was dark, and the one in the library too. “Coming back.”

Matt grabbed for the Maglite when Techie handed it to him, nearly dropping it as he fumbled with the switch. His eyes looked huge, and not just from the dark, Techie thought. “We should do the rounds. Check on the other units,” he said, although that was the last thing he wanted to do. “Oh, wait a sec.” They had a portable EMF detector in one of the bins, with a strap so they could sling it across a shoulder if needed. He pulled it out too before heading back to the kitchen.

“Here. Shine it on this, will you?” Unsnapping the cover, he turned it on. It immediately gave a loud beep and he’d have dropped it if it wasn’t for the snap. The needle on the sensor immediately jumped to the right and stayed buried there, vibrating.

“That’s bad, isn’t it?” Matt asked.

“It’s not good.”

They might have stood there indefinitely if the power hadn’t come back on. The radio came alive with it. This time, instead of the oldies station, it had switched to rock.

_Now I’ve tried to talk to you and make you understand_

_All you have to do is close your eyes_

_And just reach out your hands and touch me …._

With a sharp burst of static the music quit, leaving them staring at each other. Matt turned off his flashlight after a few seconds, and Techie remembered to turn his off too.

“Still no green,” Matt said, pointing at the sensor on its stand in the hall.

“We might have to reboot them all.” They should, but Techie couldn’t make his feet movie, and Matt seemed frozen in place as well.

“It would go faster if we split up,” Matt said at last.

“I don’t want to split up.” The admission escaped him, and he flushed, looking away.

“I don’t want to split up either. C’mon. Start at the top and work our way down?”

As they reached the landing between the second and third floors the lights went out again. Techie froze and Matt bumped into him. When he stumbled, an arm wrapped around him, pulling him back.

“We should stay here until the lights come back on again,” Matt said, and Techie murmured something in agreement. He couldn’t manage words at the moment. His brain wavered between gibbering fear in the dark and sheer ecstasy at being held in Matt’s arms, pressed up against him. They stood like that, Matt a solid, reassuring presence against him. Techie could feel his muscles tense as a gust of wind rattled the shutters. “Any minute now,” Matt said. They waited, but the lights never came back on.

Eventually Techie pulled out his flashlight again. Flipping it on, he illuminated the stairs in front of him. Even with the powerful beam, the third floor still remained draped in shadow. The walls seemed to lean in towards them. “I think we should go back downstairs,” he said. “If the power does come back on, we’ll try again.”

“That’s a good idea,” Matt said. He finally let go of Techie’s waist and the temperature on the landing seemed to drop once his arm fell away.

“Is it cold here, or is it me?” Matt asked. As he finished his sentence, the portable EMF vibrated against Techie’s leg.

“Um … maybe it’s not you?” Techie fumbled with the detector, nearly dropping his flashlight. At the sudden movement the bulb flickered, going dim. He shook it and it brightened momentarily, then started to fade again.

“Here, let me.” Matt reached for the flashlight. Techie let go an instant too soon and it fell, hitting the wooden stair with a dull thud. They both heard the glass cover shatter and the bulb went out, stranding them in the dark again. It was Techie’s turn to swear now.

“Hang on.” Matt pulled out his flashlight. The bulb on his gave them only a few seconds of light before going out. They stood in silence in the dark for a few seconds. “We are so screwed,” Matt said at last.

“They keep the emergency candles in the kitchen.” They used Techie’s phone to light the way back to the kitchen, taking the stairs one at a time. Matt held his hand the entire way down.

“Streetlights are still on,” Matt said when they reached the kitchen, staring out the window. “And it looks like none of the neighbors are out.”

“So it’s just us then?” Techie asked.

“Looks like.”

Techie rummaged in the top drawer at the end of the counter until he found the one of the boxes of candles and a packet of matches. It took him three tries to light a match, and his hands shook so much it took him two more matches to light a candle. Once he succeeded, he sighed in relief at the soft glow, and Matt echoed him. Their combined breaths were echoed by another gust of wind that made them both jump.

“I think we should forget about the equipment,” Matt whispered. A reflection of the candle flame danced in the lenses of his glasses, making Techie a bit dizzy. “I think we should bring all the candles into the parlor. We can wrap up in the extra blankets to keep warm and wait until morning. Once it gets light we pack up and get the hell out of here.”

“That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.” Techie lit a second candle for Matt. He slid the little paper guards on the bottoms of each, to protect their fingers from dripping wax. They left their now useless flashlights on the counter and each grabbed a handful of extra candles.

With their hands full, Matt couldn’t take his hand again as they shuffled through the house. As they passed through the dining room, the radio crackled back into life again. Techie let out a little scream as another old classic started to play.

_Earth angel, earth angle_

_Please be mine_

_My darling dear_

_Love you all the time_

_I’m just a fool_

_A fool in love …._

It stopped again in mid line. “Hold on a sec,” Matt said, letting go. The sudden loss of his hand made the house seem that much colder. Matt groped around behind the radio and swore. “It’s already unplugged.” He stood there, the cord in one hand, and the candle wavering in his other. Techie could see the whites of his eyes even in the flickering light.

“Maybe we could grab the blankets and go sleep in the van,” Techie suggested, even though he knew it would be too cold.

“You’d freeze,” Matt said, “even with us together under all the blankets. Let’s stick to the plan - blankets in the parlor.”

“With the candlesticks,” Techie joked. It was a weak attempt but Matt laughed anyways.

They gathered not only the blankets but all the couch cushions and throw pillows. They made a nest with it all in the middle of the parlor floor.

“I’d suggest a blanket fort, but we’d probably catch it on fire,” Matt said as they worked.

As they lay side by side, staring up at the ceiling, somehow Techie ended up with Matt’s arm around him and his head resting his head on Matt’s giant bicep. It wasn’t the most comfortable pillow he’d ever had, but he wouldn’t have switched it out for the most expensive, down filled-pillow on earth.

They’d scavenged a pair of candleholders from the dining room and set them on the coffee table. The flames flickered, casting uneasy shadows about the room. It was almost worse than no light at all. The shadows seemed to be reaching out to them, long fingers of darkness spreading across the ceiling and down the wall. Techie shivered and Matt leaned in, pulling the blankets tighter around them.

They both jumped when the heard the musical notes of the chandelier crystals. He could feel the hairs on his arms stand up as the crystalline notes echoed through the house. Had they always chimed in a minor key or was he just noticing it for the first time? Or had the notes changed, mutated, into something different?

Normally there were other noises in the house, all too human ones. They'd hear the sounds of Rae and Tham in domestic bliss. There would be the murmur of guests in the upstairs rooms. The woman they hired part time during the busy season would clatter around in the kitchen. He’d never been here with the place so empty.

Instinctively Techie turned in towards Matt. He squeaked in surprise when Matt rolled over, pulling him in close against his chest. Matt’s arms tightened around him as wind rattled the shutters, a solid and reassuring presence beside him, reminding him he was not alone. Matt glared off into the dark, as if he could scare away whatever phantoms loomed around them. In the faint glow of the streetlights that seeped through the window, he seemed almost a ghost himself, normally fierce scowl softened and his hair a glowing nimbus around his head. “What time is it?” Techie asked, desperate for something to distract him from the dark and the eerie noises.

“Ten, ten-thirty, maybe,” Matt said.

That gave them another seven or eight hours of darkness – not a reassuring thought. “Do you think the power will come back on?” Techie asked.

“No idea.”

“It could be a circuit breaker,” Techie said. They couldn’t check, as the box was in the basement. “It’s probably a circuit breaker.” He tried to sound confident about it but could hear the tremor in his voice.

“We should have enough candles to last us until morning.” Matt’s voice shook too as he spoke, a slight waver, but Techie still noticed. “We should try to sleep a bit. Maybe take it in shifts?”

“I don’t think I could sleep a wink,” Techie said. Every little noise set him off. His brain, exhausted and overstimulated, supplied him with the images of little adrenaline men on tiny bicycles racing through his body. A giggle escaped him at the thought and when Matt frowned at him, another came, and then another. He tried to explain between giggles, but whenever he tried to put it into words it set him off again. Shaking his head, Matt held him until he wound down. “I’m glad you’re here with me,” he whispered when the fit finally passed.

“There’s no one else I’d rather be stranded in a haunted house with,” Matt replied.

Techie froze for a minute before melting into Matt’s arms. “Me too,” he admitted, the words almost lost with his face buried in Matt’s chest. “I wasn’t going to do this until Armie told me you’d be here too.”

“Really? Because I was going to tell Kylo no, and then he told me you were going to be doing it alone.”

“You were?” Pushing away enough so he could look up at Matt, he found Matt staring down at him, glasses crooked on his face. Wanting to feel brave in some small way, he finally did what he’d been longing to for years. With trembling fingers he reached up, straightening Matt’s glasses on his nose and then brushing back the wayward strands of hair splayed across Matt’s forehead. Matt’s eyes fluttered closed and he sighed, a soft, contented exhalation, at the gentle touches on his forehead. Emboldened, Techie continued, tracing the outline of Matt’s face until he reached Matt’s temple, then burying his fingers in Matt’s wild curls.

“Matt,” he whispered.

“Mm.”

It was now or never. “I like you.” He took a deep breath. “I really like you.”

Matt’s eyes flew open. “You do?”

“Really.” He let out a squeak as Matt’s arms tightened around him again, almost painfully so, and Matt let go, trying to scoot away.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to …”

Techie wasn’t about to let him get away. Grabbing two handfuls of Matt’s shirt, he pulled him back. “Does that mean you, maybe, um, like me too?” he asked, heart pounding in his chest, even though he was pretty sure by now that Matt maybe did.

“Since the first day we met,” Matt said.

“Oh. Really?” Techie would have pinched himself if he had a free hand.

“Really really.”

“Okay. Wow. Um … me too?”

“Really?”

“Really really.” Matt was staring at him now with the biggest, goofiest grin on his face, and who was he to talk because he could feel an equally big, goofy grin on his own. “So, um, I’d really like to kiss you?” he dared to say, since he’d already gone this far.

“Sure. I mean, yes. I’d like that too. I’d like that a lot.”

It couldn’t have been any more awkward of a kiss if they’d tried. They bumped noses, then bumped noses again. Matt’s glasses went even more crooked and Techie giggled as he tore them off with a curse and tossed them over one shoulder.

“You’re going to regret that when you can’t find them tomorrow morning,” Techie said.

“Don’t care.”

With one less thing to manage, this time he managed to find Matt’s lips with minimal fumbling. It was the barest brushing of lips and he knew his were chapped and rough but Matt didn’t seem to mind. Matt’s lips were softer than he could ever have imagined. An interminable time passed, a moment or an hour, until his horror Techie yawned right in the middle of a kiss.

Matt laughed, bestowing another kiss on the tip of Techie’s nose. “Think you could sleep now?” he asked.

“Maybe?”

“Go ahead. I’ll keep watch.”

With that comforting thought, and the feel of fingers running through his hair, and the warm embrace of Matt’s arms, Techie did indeed manage to fall asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The parlor faced due east and Techie woke squinting. Cracking one eye open, he groaned. In none of the various situations he’d imagined over the years had he ever imagined he’d complain about being held in Matt’s arms. This morning, though, he found himself pinned and couldn’t get an arm free to pull a blanket over his face.

His movements disturbed Matt but didn’t wake him. Instead he found himself even more thoroughly trapped as Matt’s arms tightened around him. Admitting to himself that he wouldn’t be getting back to sleep, he let himself relax in Matt’s embrace instead, savoring the warmth, the slow, steady beat of Matt’s heartbeat against his cheek, and the soft puffs of breath along the top of his head.

It wasn’t just the rising sun that had woken him, he realized after a bit.

“Matt?” he said, trying to twist around and failing again. “Matt, wake up. I think the power’s back on?”

“Don’t wanna,” Matt mumbled.

“We can make coffee,” Techie said.

“You’re better than coffee.”

“I am?”

“And pancakes. You’re definitely better than pancakes.”

“What about bacon?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far.”

“You’re lucky I can’t move my arms.”

He could pinch, though. That woke Matt up all the way. “You’re lucky you’re cute,” he grumbled, letting go at last. “Where’d my glasses go?”

“You threw them that way, I think?”

Matt’s glasses weren’t in the parlor. Techie found them at last, sitting on the counter in the kitchen next to the coffee maker, which was just starting to drip when he picked them up. “We never programmed this, did we? And if we did, the power outage should have wiped it.”

Matt’s face went pale as the coffeemaker gurgled. “Remember what I said yesterday?”

“About packing up as soon as it gets light and getting the hell out of here?” Techie asked

“Yeah.”

“How does breakfast at Denny’s sound?”

“Deal.”

He hadn’t had a kiss yet this morning, Techie realized. He needed a kiss before they started packing. When he wrapped his arms around Matt’s neck and tried to pull him in, though, Matt drew back. He had a worried moment about whether he had imagined last night until Matt spoke.

“I have morning breath,” Matt tried to protest.

Relieved washed through him. “Don’t care.”

None of the sensors or detectors had come back on with the power, and the laptop hadn’t recorded anything since the first power flicker.

“Armie’s going to be pissed,” Techie said as they started disassembling the equipment.

“Don’t care,” Matt said. “Kylo said they checked and calibrated everything and it was good to go. If they want more readings, they can come back themselves.”

As they started to load the first stack of crates onto the hand truck, the radio crackled into life again for a few seconds.

_Oh, my love, my darling_

_I've hungered, for your touch_

_A long, lonely time_

_Time goes by so slo…._

“Do you think they knew?” Techie asked. In that moment, he gave up any pretense at denying it. The house was haunted and Hux would never, ever convince him otherwise. He couldn’t feel any ill will towards the ghosts, or poltergeists, or whatever they were, though. Not when he’d woken up in Matt’s arms.

“Maybe they heard Rae and Tham talking,” Matt replied.

“How would they know?”

Matt shrugged. “Well, I talked about it to Kylo and he might have told them?”

“You think so? Because I’ve talked about it with Armie a bit.” By a bit he meant constantly for years, but that wasn’t something he’d admit to Matt for at least a month or two.

“So everybody knew, you mean?” Matt asked.

“Everyone but us.”

“We’re both idiots.”

Techie laughed, kissing Matt on the nose as he tightened the strap to hold the bins in place. “But you’re my idiot. Right?”

“I solemnly swear that I will always be your idiot.”

Matt’s glasses were crooked again. Techie poked at one bow until they sat straight. He could do that now. He could also stare at Matt without worrying about being caught. He could smooth his ruffled hair too. And oh, yes, he could kiss him.

They might have stood in the front hallway until lunchtime if they hadn’t been startled by a loud thump from the library.

“Should we go see what that was?” Matt asked.

“Not on your life.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So did it work?” Rae asked. Hux could her Tham’s voice in the background. “Shush, I’m asking now. Hang on – I’m going to put you on speaker.”

“It did, yes,” Hux said. He knew he sounded disgruntled. Anything further he might have added was lost in the cheers coming from the other end of the call.

“So you’ll hold true on your end?”

Armitage sighed. “Yes, I will publish an article saying while I was unable to prove the existence of your hauntings, I was also unable to disprove them.” The things he did for his brother, and for Kylo too. And for Rae, he thought, as long as he was blaming people. It had all been Kylo’s idea once they’d found out the inn’s bookings had dropped off. Hux had only gone along with it because Techie’s moping had become excruciating. He gritted his teeth through the remaining pleasantries until he could hang up.

“You,” he said to Kylo. “This is all your fault.”

“I take complete responsibility. But you know you were worried about the aunties.” That’s how Kylo had referred to Rae and Tham since he first met them. “They’re booked solid for months now. And look at those two!” Kylo pointed into the living room, where Matt lay on his back with his head in Techie’s lap. Techie was feeding Matt strawberries. As they watched, Matt pretended to bite Techie’s fingers and Techie drew his hand back with a delighted squeal. Matt grabbed his hand and started kissing his fingers, one by one. “Look at them,” Kylo repeated. “It was totally worth it. Admit it.”

“I will admit nothing of the sort.” The brusqueness of Hux’s words was in sharp contrast to the soft smile that crept over his face.

“At least we weren’t that impossible,” Kylo said as he pulled Hux towards him, wrapping his arms around Hux’s waist and kissing his forehead.

“No, we were sensible about it all.” If you called agreeing to be each other’s bootie call while ignoring their feelings for months sensible, then of course they had been. At least he hadn’t inflicted his growing infatuation on his brother throughout the process. “I’ve already disabled the timer on the main power line and pulled the wireless speaker out from the radio cabinet,” Hux continued. Years of debunking fakers had had taught him several useful ways to create the illusions of hauntings. “Now help me rewire the equipment so it doesn’t give false readings anymore. Oh, and remind me to change out the batteries in the Maglites before our next outing.”

“Your wish is my command.”

As they worked, Hux frowned at the exposed innards of one of the EMF detectors. “It’s strange. Even with the adjustments I made, they shouldn’t have gotten some of the readings they did. I think we should run full calibrations on everything.”

Instead of answering, Kylo began to hum the Twilight Zone theme.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tham and Rae sat out in the gazebo, wrapped in blankets, sipping wine and watching the sunset.

“Now that both our boys are properly settled, what’s our next project, my dear?” Tham asked.

“I’m thinking we should work on the plumbing in the Victorian Room bath. Antique furniture is nice. Antique pipes? Not so much.” Seeing Tham’s glass was nearly empty, Rae asked, “Need a top off, love?”

“Yes, please.”

Rae turned to grab the decanter from the side table and frowned. “We did put the stopper in before we came out, didn’t we?”

“I’m sure we did. Are they at it again?”

“Looks like it.”

When they went back inside, they found the stopper sitting in the middle of the dining room table. They hadn’t used this room for guests today and neither of them had been in it since the night before.

“All right you. Our toothbrushes better not be missing,” Rae told the room. The chandelier tinkled, maybe in response, and maybe because the old house settled a bit.

Tham put the stopper back in the bottle and set the glasses on the table next to it. “Come on, we’d better turn in. Breakfast won’t make itself tomorrow morning.”

“I’m coming.” Looking up at the ceiling, Rae said, “Good night, imps. Sleep well. Oh, and thank you! For the boys, that is. You did well there.”

They turned out the lights in the rooms, one by one, as they made their way to the stairs that led to their basement apartment. Once they’d closed their doors, the dining room light flickered on again, and the chandelier slowly began to turn, crystals chiming in the empty room.

([x](https://katherine1753.tumblr.com/post/187670408644/mini-bang-art-for-thewightknight-part-1-ill))

**Author's Note:**

> Techie and Matt's Haunted Romance Playlist:
> 
> [Chances Are – Johnny Mathis](https://youtu.be/NEH3uqbpsm8)  
[Helpless – Hamilton soundtrack](https://youtu.be/3HMPN6zLlXg)  
[Only You – The Platters](https://youtu.be/3FygIKsnkCw)  
[Extreme – More Than Words](https://youtu.be/UrIiLvg58SY)  
[Earth Angel – The Penguins](https://youtu.be/VJcGi4-n_Yw)  
[Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers](https://youtu.be/IYj2hex99gY)
> 
> bonus tracks:  
[Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell](https://youtu.be/Xz-UvQYAmbg)  
[Crazy for You – Madonna](https://youtu.be/DHutZXREZ0E)  
[Just the Way You Are – Billy Joel](https://youtu.be/HaA3YZ6QdJU)  
[I Just Called to Say I Love You – Stevie Wonder](https://youtu.be/1bGOgY1CmiU)  
[Crazy Little Thing Called Love – Queen](https://youtu.be/zO6D_BAuYCI)  
[Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye](https://youtu.be/x6QZn9xiuOE)
> 
> Thanks for reading! If you want to say hi, [check out my profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/profile) for where I’m currently hanging out on this here internet thing.


End file.
